


The More Things Change

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Affection, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Banter, Bittersweet, Brotherly Bonding, Canon Compliant, Caring, Hugs, Introspection, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Multiple Selves, New Year's Fluff, New Years, Nostalgia, Plans For The Future, Platonic Cuddling, Promises, Team as Family, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 03:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13227576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: ...the more they stay the same.If any day in Egos Central is going to be peaceful, it'll be New Year's Day.





	The More Things Change

If any day is going to be peaceful in Egos Central, it’ll be New Years’ Day. Jackieboy is sitting on the couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table, with his arms around Schneep and Marvin on either side of him. Chase is on the floor, his kids giggling on either side of him as they play with the Operation game they borrowed from Schneep.

Jameson is entertaining Robbie by showing him how many tricks he can do with his hat! He can roll it down the length of his arm, catch it and flip it back onto his head, and Robbie’s enthralled! Of course it does help when Marvin is subtly waving a finger or two against the arm of the couch, keeping JJ steady. It’s like clockwork by now, so he glances at Jackieboy as he works.

“A lot’s changed this year, hasn’t it?” he muses, to which Jackieboy nods.

“We got Chase, we got Jameson…Jeez, it feels like so long ago now. And we got you back too, Henrik, safe and sound and  _mostly_ unscathed after that stunt Anti pulled in August.”

The doctor shivers a little at the memory, but Jackieboy’s quick to squeeze his shoulder and distract him. “And I made my triumphant return,” he goes on, leaning his head against the back of the couch and grinning. “And the fans loved me.”

“As if there was doubt,” Schneep scoffs. “We know they always will! The little fans need the hero—we all know him, we all love him! We—Jackie!” The rest of his words are cut off by frustrated grumbling as Jackieboy abruptly decides it’s the perfect opportunity to ruffle his hair, dislodging his surgical cap from his head.

“Whoa…I got my name this year,” Marvin recalls, seeming almost startled. “Almost a year to the day since Jack created me, he finally gave me my  _name_.”

“And it  _is_ Magnificent, bro!” Chase quips, to which his son nods vigorously and then jumps at the harsh buzz the game board makes.

“Shut up, Peter!” Schneep hollers, sitting up straight and glowering warningly at his former accountant. “You are dead, you can zip the little lip! And you, Connor, you be more careful with Peter’s remains! Perhaps Brianna should handle the little phone bone!” 

Chase’s daughter giggles proudly and nods, playfully bickering with her brother over the tools while their adoring dad actually does the work.

“And of course none of it would be possible without Jack,” Jackieboy concludes, more pensively, to which the others murmur their agreements. “We can always count on him.”

“And he can count on us, can’t he?” Marvin adds. “We’re always hanging around to have our hands on his back and support ’im.” He pauses, the traces of magic disappearing from his fingers and dropping Jameson’s hat to the floor as he takes in the expression on Jackieboy’s face. “Hey, what is it? Something wrong?”

“Ah, Jackie, are you getting a sudden cry?” Schneep huffs affectionately, patting the hero on the back with sympathy. Jackieboy laughs a little, blinking and ducking his head.

“Yeah, it’s stupid. Just…I can’t imagine what it’d be like without any of you— _all_ of you, the fans, Jack and Signe. I know  _my_ whole world is better because of you.”

A pause follows his words, during which Jackieboy wonders if he’s said too much. Jameson picks up his hat and tips it back on his head with one hand, finding Robbie’s shoulder with the other. The zombie looks up and around at all of them, his smile wide and lopsided. Marvin tilts his head, following Robbie’s example and looking around the room, taking it all in. Chase puts his arms around his kids, tugging them against his sides where they nestle their faces against his chest. Henrik huffs again, very softly, and pulls his legs up underneath him on the couch, settling more comfortably where he is.

“True, true,” is all he has to say. No one else wants to break the finality of the agreement, so they return to their business and Jackieboy can’t help but appreciate that. It isn’t often that he gets away without the others teasing him for his soft heart.

Before he knows it, despite Jack’s long-held motto that sleep is for the weak, all of the others have fallen asleep where they are for the night, even their lightest sleepers. Jackieboy would move to get off the couch and grab some blankets, but Marvin and Schneep are both curled up against his shoulders, effectively holding him hostage. 

They’re probably going to sleep through the midnight celebration, Jackieboy muses, but he has no time to be disappointed. Movement from the corner catches his attention and he perks up. Naturally Anti would arrive late to the party, when everyone else is open and vulnerable.

Anti steps over Jameson and Robbie into the hero’s line of sight, bending down and scooping up Jameson’s hat without making a sound. He studies it for a few seconds and then glances back at Jackieboy, who, for some reason, still feels a strange sense of calm. If he needs to, he can untangle himself from his brothers in less than a second to defend them, but in the meantime he lets them keep snoring softly, unaware of the Glitch’s gaze on them.

“I̷t͜ w̵as͢ ̴j̶u̢s͟t̷ ̕the tw͠o of ̸us̛ o̵n͞c̢e͢,” Anti remarks in a low voice, running his fingers over Jameson’s hat, leaving scrapes from his nails in the velvet. “No̷w ͟ _th͠ey̛'̵rę ͟_ h͜e̕r͏e.”

“They changed your life too,” Jackieboy voices the rest of Anti’s thought. His enemy’s grip on the hat tightens, bending the brim, and his voice is a shade harsher when he speaks again, though no louder than before.

“I̡ ̨n̶e̶v̷er̶ as͢k̵e҉d ͡them͞ ͏t̛o.”

“You didn’t have to. They change our lives whether we like it or not,” Jackieboy counters sternly. “I never asked for them either. I didn’t know I could have or even that I  _should_ have, but here they are.”

“B̵y t͜his̛ t̸i̕me n̕ex͢t̛ ͏year, th͞e͟y͞ mi̵gḩt͡ ̨noţ b͡e,  _her͜o͢_. W͞h̛at'̶r͜e ͝y̛ou̡ ͏g̷oing ̡t͠o ̕d͏o ͡then̢?҉” Anti growls, flinging the hat at the farthest wall. At the dull thump close to his head, Chase stirs slightly, subconsciously curling his fingers further into his daughter’s hair. Jackieboy waits until the younger Ego goes still again before inhaling deeply.

“If it’s ever just the two of us again, it’ll break my heart,” he confesses, to which Anti smirks just a little. The smirk is wiped away by his next words: “But it won’t break my spirit. If it’s going to be me and you, it’ll be me and you. You don’t seem to realize just how much  _you_ need them, Anti. Maybe they will be gone this time next year—or maybe there’ll be  _more_ of them. Our lives may change, but you and I, who we  _are_ …that’ll stay the same. Count on that.”

Anti is quiet for a long series of seconds, aside from the buzz of static as his body glitches and twitches. “I͞ wi̛ll͡,” he swears grimly, the blackness in his eyes clearing, making way for blue. For a few solid seconds, the enemies’ eyes are similar, if not just the same, as they stare at each other. They both feel the weight of those words, whether or not they would admit it.

 _Some things never change. We never change_. It’s the first resolution they make together and, knowing them, it will probably be the last.


End file.
